By J. Adam Tyler
Guest Columnist

Recently, I took a trip to the D.C. area for work. I have been to Northern Virginia many times, but for this country boy from Buckingham, the traffic and the roads can seem a bit confusing. Thank goodness for GPS! I knew how to get the journey started, but I didn’t know what exits to take and which way to turn once I got near my destination. As I came closer to where I needed to be, I pulled up the GPS on my phone and entered the address. Instantly, three routes appeared; I chose the shortest, and began to follow the directions it gave. When I had to pull over for a pit stop, the GPS recalculated and promptly told me to turn around; I needed to get back to the right path.

Next Wednesday, a season in the life of many churches begins called Lent. Lent is a period of forty days (excluding Sundays) that leads up to the celebration each year of Easter, the day of Jesus’ resurrection. That Lenten period is a concentrated time of reflection upon the ways of Jesus and repentance for the ways that we who follow him have failed to do this. Sometimes, it is a period where we give up those things that come between us and God or us and one another; other times, it is a period where we add spiritual practices or acts of charity to live more fully into the way of Jesus.

Sister Joan Chittester, a Catholic nun and author, says, “Every year, Ash Wednesday (the traditional start of Lent) calls us back to the paths from which we have strayed, refocuses our attention on both the way and the goal of our journey through life. Every year, the Sundays of Lent plunge us into the center of the faith, reminding us of who we are and who we must become.” (The Liturgical Year) This strikes me as a helpful reminder of the purpose of the season of Lent: a time to be redirected back to God and to turn away from the things that keep us from who God has made us to be and calls us to be.

I want to encourage you to observe the season of Lent this year, even if you have never done so before. Pick a book of the Bible and read a bit of it every day. Take quiet moments each day, at the beginning or the middle or the end, to center your thoughts on God and ponder what the way of Jesus is all about. Give thought to the needs of someone else, even if they are someone who annoys you or bothers you, and ask God to bless them. Be honest with yourself about your own attitude and actions. Do something that helps someone else. This is the invitation of Lent: to turn back to the way of Jesus.

REV. DR. J. ADAM TYLER is the senior pastor for Farmville Baptist Church and he can be reached by email at pastor@farmvillebaptist.org.